Fkbeuaey 17, 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



For Those Who Give Them the Requisite Culture, Asters Are a Quite Profitable Crop. 



with » less gross return because he does 

 not have the heavy expense involved in 

 growing winter crops. 



The seeds should be sown April 1, and 

 every two weeks thereafter until June 5. 

 The plants must be kept growing with- 

 out any check, if good flowers are 

 wanted. 



Bunching Blooms for Market. 



A large part of success in aster cul- 

 ture lies in the ability of the grower to 

 market the blooms properly. It is a 

 common sight to see first-class asters so 

 carelessly iDunched that the flowers have 

 no sale, while somewhat poorer flowers 

 attractively bunched and tied sell 

 readily. When the flowers go to a com- 

 mission house, the buyers want the 

 bunch so made that each flower can be 

 seen and that the stems will be of even 

 length. A bunch of asters, twenty-six 

 blooms, should have all the leaves 

 stripped off the lower three inches of 

 the stems and should be tied securely 

 about two inches from the ends of the 

 stems. The flowers should be cut when 

 nearly open and placed in water during 

 the day or overnight before shipping. 



LIBERAL PROVISIONS MADE. 



Announcement is made by C. L. Mar- 

 latt, chairman of the Federal Horticul- 

 tural Board, that provision is made 

 under regulation 14 of Quarantine 37 

 for the importation of all plants, what- 

 soever, in quantities to meet any le- 

 gitimate introduction needs. 



"In order to give a fair opportunity 

 to secure necessary stocks for such pur- 

 poses," states Mr. Marlatt, "the board 

 will issue to all applicants, during the 

 first _ 2-year period of the quarantine, 

 special permits for any particular plant 



variety, new or old, which is commer- 

 cially unavailable in the United States. 

 In other words, such permits will not be 

 refused to late-comers because permits 

 for adequate quantities of the plant con- 

 cerned have, perhaps, already been is- 

 sued to others. A 2-year period, how- 

 ever, would seem to be suflieient to allow 

 practically all plant propagators to stock 

 up with unavailable plants. Thereafter, 

 the issuance of permits for such plants 

 will be made absolutely dependent on 

 a showing of need and of commercial 

 unavailability in the United States. It 

 should go without saying that this pro- 

 vision will not restrict the issuance of 

 special permits for the importation of 

 new horticultural creations or discover- 

 ies. 



Correction Made. 



"This decision of the board is to 

 correct a situation which had arisen in 

 the administration of the quarantine, 

 where permits were being refused with 

 respect to plants for which entry had 

 previously been authorized, and it was 

 felt that it was better to give all an 

 opportunity, for a definite period, to 

 secure any of the plants which had once 

 been authorized, rather than arbitrarily 

 to stop the issuance of permits, perhaps, 

 after only a few individuals had secured 

 the plants in question, under the belief 

 that sufficient stocks of these plants had 

 already been imported. 



"Importers and the public probably 

 now fully understand that importations 

 under special permits are only for re- 

 production purposes, and the plants so 

 imported must be kept for a period of 

 one to five years, designated in the 

 permit, and employed for such reproduc- 

 tion purpose under the control of the 

 board and subject to such inspection 



from time to time as the board may re- 

 quire. 



Special Permits Issued. 



"In this connection it may be a mat- 

 ter of interest to state that special per- 

 mits under regulation 14 have been 

 issued authorizing importation of ap- 

 proximately 5,000 different varieties of 

 jilants. Many of these varieties have 

 been included in many different permits, 

 and the importation of some of them, 

 notably in the case of bulbs and bulb- 

 lots, has been authorized in large quan- 

 tities. Since the quarantine was promul- 

 gated some 650 permits have been is- 

 sued for the entry, for this purpose, of 

 the so-called 'prohibited plants.' These 

 permits authorize the importation, if 

 they can be found for purchase abroad, 

 of upwards of 16,000,000 plants, includ- 

 ing bulbs and bulblets, and also several 

 hundred thousand ornamentals and other 

 plants. Importations made under these 

 permits arc now being successfully 

 propagated and reproduced in hundreds 

 of establishments in about twenty-five 

 different states. 



"The policy of the board and depart- 

 ment has been liberal as to the amount 

 of plants which may be imported under 

 these permits, with the intention of 

 giving ample opportunity to establish 

 reproduction enterprises on as large a 

 commercial scale as the market demands 

 of this country warrant, and with the 

 object of eliminating, as rapidly as pos- 

 sible, the dependency on foreign sup- 

 plies, and thus attaining the main pur- 

 ])ose of the quarantine in greatly les- 

 sening the risk of entry of new plant 

 pests." 



Topeka, Kan. — The University of 

 Kansas is contemplating the erection of 

 a greenhouse, which will cost $15,000. 



